


Stronger Together

by the_odd_writer



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Armitage Hux Smokes, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Soft Kylux, Underage Smoking, brendol is an ass, ooc hux and kylo, shy hux
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 02:34:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15596325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_odd_writer/pseuds/the_odd_writer
Summary: He wore a baggy sweater and jeans, and had headphones around his neck. Armitage looked to him briefly as he sat down in an unruly matter. He didn’t seem to notice Armitage, he took his old looking MP3 player and clicked a button, then put his headphones on top of his ears. The music was loud enough for Armitage to clearly hear the words and beat. All the music that played was heavy metal, or rock.That was Ben Solo.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had already posted this, but then deleted. This is a repost, thanks for your support!

_Armitage combs through his hair one last time, checking that it’s perfect. Then he smooths the mostly black outfit he had chosen,_ the only exception of a different shade was the dark grey turtleneck he wore underneath the rather large coat. He wasn’t emo or goth, he just appreciated the simplicity of black. Also, it was his favourite season, fall, which meant he got to wear his favourite things, scarves, gloves and long coats, comfortably. He walked out and grabbed his satchel off of the chair beside his desk. It was his first day at the new school, and he always thought first impressions mattered the most. So he’d be as perfect as he could be today. Armitage walked down the creaky wood stairs and was met with the frowning face of his father. Of course. If there was anything that could mess up his whole day, it was his dad. He nodded in a greeting and attempted a smile.  
“Did you use superglue on that?” He scoffed and looked at Armitage’s hair.  “And what the hell are you-“ he was cut off by his son’s small voice. Armitage was usually quite loud, and out there, but with his father he was reduced to nothing.  
“Dad. It’s my first day.” He said, shifting uncomfortably.  
“And? You think I’m going to cut you some slack just because it’s your ‘first day’?” He mocked a baby voice for the last two words, then went back to his hard tone “I don’t give a rats ass if it’s your first day... man up Armitage.” he said and then slapped his son’s back, hard. Not playfully. It tripped Armitage forward and he grunted. He nodded shallowly and headed towards the car. Brendol had noticed his son took nothing to eat for breakfast but didn’t care enough to say anything. He climbed into the driver's seat and started the car up, backing out of the driveway a little too fast for Armitage’s liking. “I can't wait until you’ll be able to drive” he said and casually tapped the steering wheel.   
“I’ll take a course this summer” Armitage had never learned to drive and he was 18, he simply didn’t have any time between all the school work and anything else in his life. Brendol had wanted him to learn how, but realized it couldn’t happen yet. They’d agreed to a later time. Well not really agreed... Brendol just picked it and his son accepted it.

He pulled into the schools drop-off area faster than the speed limit permitted and said nothing as he unlocked the doors and waited for Armitage to exit. The boy was barely out of the car when his dad sped off. Armitage looked at the school and wondered if it would be anything like his old one. He walked towards it, wind whipping around him but his hair stayed in place thanks to the gel he’d applied. He went to the office and got his timetable and school information booklets. He tucked them neatly into his binder before he left. He kept the timetable and looked to what he had first. English. Perfect. He enjoyed english, the reading assignments and papers kept him busy and away from his father. He checked the room number and headed towards it. He was the first there, and he picked the spot at the front, people slowly began to fill in around him.

  
The desks were long and three chairs could be sat at them, so he’d be sitting between two other people. Oh joy. The first to sit beside him was a girl who had a forced smile on her face and a prissy aura to her. She was dressed in all pink and had large, flashy earrings. He turned away slightly not wanting to talk. Friends was not something he planned on making anytime soon. Especially ones that looked like that. _Keep to yourself and everything will be fine._ He thought, that’s when another person sat beside him. It was a man this time, he had jet black, almost shaggy hair and a very sturdy build. He wore a baggy sweater and jeans, and had headphones around his neck. Armitage looked to him briefly as he sat down in an unruly matter. He didn’t seem to notice Armitage, he took his old looking MP3 player and clicked a button, then put his headphones on top of his ears. The music was loud enough for Armitage to clearly hear the words and beat. All the music that played was heavy metal, or rock. Armitage had to admit that some of the music was good, although it was not his prefered genre. The teacher began to talk then scolded ‘Ben’ for playing his music way too loud, giving him the lecture every parent or teacher would. “You’re going to go deaf if you keep listening to your music that loud” Ben only shrugged, it was a heavy shrug as he pulled off the headphones, stopping the music. Armitage watched him, sitting perfectly in his own seat.  
“Welcome back.” the teacher smiled to the class and Armitage rolled his eyes. “This is your last year, seniors. Congratulations.” She said, then walked to the chalkboard. She wrote her name on the board. “You probably don’t recognize me because I’m new. This is my first year.” Her last name was Ms. Gilligant. What a name. He turned his ears off until she began to hand out papers. He had a song he’d listened to the night before, stuck in his head.

  
The classes went by all too quickly and soon Armitage found himself walking towards the cafeteria for lunch. He wasn’t hungry, but he brought a lunch he actually wanted and intended on eating it, feeling good or not. He sat down at an empty table and took the food out. That was when someone sat beside him, Armitage looked briefly and saw the same dark haired kid from English class. He gave him a slightly bewildered look.   
“Hi” the man said, taking a sandwich straight out of his bag, no lunch bag. He removed the sandwich from the bag and it smelled of tuna. Armitage wrinkled his nose slightly, he didn’t like tuna.

“Hello” He said, not turning to face the other man. He didn’t want friends, and this guy was obviously trying to be friends.

“What’s your name?” he innocently asked.

“Armitage.” He stated, giving no indication that he wanted the other man’s name. But he got it anyways.

“Im Kylo” He pulled out a book, it looked to be a sketchbook. He opened it and flipped through it. The pages filled with intricate drawings caught Armitage’s eye.

“You drew all of that?” he raised his eyebrows, stopping Kylo on a page filled with things drawn in different angles. It was stunning. Kylo nodded.

“It’s a hobby.”

“You should make it a job, you could make a lot of money doing comics.” He said, sliding the book over to himself, pushing his food aside and flipping through the pages. There were assorted things drawn, humans, scenery, just clothing, architecture. Armitage gave it back and took a bite of his food, when he finished chewing he spoke again. “Where’d you learn?”

“Videos online” He said and flipped to a new page, beginning a new sketch. Armitage tucked away the empty container and was intrigued by the man sitting beside him. That’s when he remembered something.

“Isn’t your name Ben?” He had recalled the teacher calling him that.

“I prefer Kylo Ren. But unfortunately yes my real name is Ben, Ben Solo” Armitage nodded at this strange man. He cocked his head to the side, taking out a book from his bag, sitting on the table. He then turned his attention to the book, taking the bookmark out and sliding it away. He could feel Kylo’s eyes on him. “What’s your next class?”

“Physics.” He mumbled.

“Same” There was something in Kylo’s voice, excitement? Nah...

“Are you new here as well?”

“Nope. Been here my whole life.” Kylo did have a ‘one of the locals’ feel to him. “Where did you move from?” Kylo already had an idea but wanted Armitage to confirm it.

“London, England” He said, shaking his head. Moving from London to Philadelphia was a bad idea, he’d tried to tell his father that. But his father insisted, saying _I grew up there. Stop your whining._ Armitage was as optimistic as a pessimist could be in a situation where he was being taken out of a place he was perfectly content in.

“Thought so. The accent is nice,”

“Thank you” he smiled a little, and realized that was the first time he’d genuinely smiled in months. No. He can’t make a friend. “We should get going” He said, adjusting the watch on his wrist, looking at it.

“Yeah I guess.” Kylo said, packing his sketchbook up and swinging his backpack around his back. They headed together down the hall. That’s when two men walked up behind them.

“Aw look. ‘Kylo Ren’ has a friend” They laughed. One, in a particularly flashy sports outfit, walked up to Armitage. He pushed Armitage’s shoulder and he stumbled back a little. “He’s a pussy too.” they laughed and shoved Armitage to the floor. He sat there and took it, like he always did, with an unfazed look on his face. Pain shot through his back as he hit the floor but he wouldn't let the bullies know it hurt. He heard Kylo growl.

“Stop touching him.” he said, voice lower than Armitage thought a voice could ever go. That just made the two men erupt in more laughter.

“Look! He’s protective.” They sneered. This one had bleached blonde hair and another obnoxiously colored outfit. He went to throw a punch, Kylo parried the attack and went in with his own hit. It was forceful and had the man back, holding his jaw. He was muttering “What the hell” He motioned for the man to follow him away, they briskly walked away, muttering things. Luckily there were no teachers in that hall, or Kylo would’ve been sent to the principal’s office. Kylo turned to Armitage and helped him up.

“I-I’m sorry about them… they hate me.” he said, basically pulling Armitage up,

“It’s fine” He responded and brushed himself off. “I don’t care” He sounded almost defensive, Kylo didn’t question why. They continued towards the class without any more trouble. Armitage sat down. _Thank the lord these are singular desks_ , he thought, pulling his binder out. It was a boring class, until the teacher mentioned a partnered project. Armitage didn’t like the sound of that, so he popped his hand up to ask a question. The teacher pointed to him.

“Can we work by ourselves?” he asked, hearing a couple snickers behind him but not caring. Mr. McConnell shook his head.

“Nope. You’ll be pulling from the cap and you’ll be with a partner” Mr. McConnell, was a little quirky and had them pick a name out of his baseball cap. When it was Armitage’s turn, he tried his best not to touch the hat, picking the top paper. He read the name, Ben. Oh no. He turned and looked to his left. “Ben.” he said dryly said and showed him the slip of paper. Kylo frowned slightly as he saw how Armitage slipped down in his chair. What a nightmare. They got the assignment papers and Armitage was swept away to his last class. After school, Kylo had tracked Armitage to his locker. He was organizing everything, sticking things here and there. Making it _him_.

“Cute.” Kylo said, looking over the other man’s shoulder and at the picture of Armitage and his mother. He turned to him.

“Cute?” He asked and realized he was talking about the little picture of him and his mother he had pinned to the inside of the door with a plain magnet. He shuddered a little and took his coat off the hook, slipping it on. It doing nothing to help the feeling he had. Kylo remembered what he had come there for.

“Can we exchange phone numbers?” He basically blurted, “We’re partners for the Physics project so I thought it might be better to be able to communicate.” Armitage leaned over to his locker to get his bag and rolled his eyes, then took his phone out of his pocket and used the touch ID, he handed it to Kylo. Kylo opened the contacts and then added his number, giving it the name Kylo Ren. Armitage took his phone back and then took Kylo’s, he added his number and put his name, then handed the phone back to Kylo. He opened the messages on his phone and saw the string of texts his dad sent him. They started okay but gradually got more vulgar. He frowned at the phone, reading the last message his dad sent, over half an hour ago, when school originally ended 3:00pm.

 

3:42pm

Armitage: [Jeez dad, sorry. I was in class. There’s a no texting rule, I had shut my phone off.]

Dad: [I want you outside the school right now.]

 

He shoved his phone into his pocket without responding. He huffed and closed his locker hard enough to get a few looks from other people around. Kylo just stood there and watched it all, silent. “I’ve got to go.” He said, that made Kylo frown.

“See you tomorrow.” he said, waving at the retreating figure that was Armitage. His coat fanned out a little, since he hadn’t buttoned it up yet. Kylo didn’t know what to think of this new guy from England. He was quite strange and Kylo liked that. He wondered if Armitage too, considered them friends. Kylo only wanted someone to hang out with, and the other goth kids were honestly really weird. They had tried to get him to eat a rat, and quite frankly if that’s what it took to be cool with the goths, Kylo was not going to be. He lingered by Armitage’s locker for a couple minutes, then left for home. He lived a football field and a few blocks away, the walk was nice and gave him time to think about the day.

Armitage climbed into his dad’s car and his dad hit the gas before he properly had his seatbelt on. “Dad, you know I don’t like when you drive rough like this.” his dad scoffed, shaking his head.

“Then learn how to drive and stop complaining.”

“We’re going to get pulled over, you're going over the speed limit!” Armitage exclaimed, pulling his eyebrows together as they were approaching 20km over the limit of 100km.

“No we’re not going to get pulled over” his dad said cockily, no hint of anything other than confidence in his voice. They drove in science for a few minutes until there were flashing lights following them, followed by the shrill scream of sirens. Armitage groaned and lay his head against the window as his dad pulled over.

“I fucking told you we were going too fast.” He huffed, Brendol gave him a death glare, silently telling him to shut his mouth. Now. The cop walked over to the window and knocked on the glass with his pointer and middle finger together. Brendol rolled the window down and nodded at the cop.

“Hello sir”

“Did you know you were going twenty kilometres over the speed limit?” The cop asked, and then glanced over at Armitage, who now wore a smug face.

“Yes I was aware of that officer” Brendol didn’t make eye contact with the man, and put an assertive tone up.

“Well… bad choices get bad results” he began writing a ticket up. Brendol sneered at Armitage and he simply shrugged. He’d not be the one to pay for the ticket. He played with a loose string on his bag he desperately wanted to cut. The officer handed his father the ticket,

“Make better choices” he said like a first grade teacher would when a student got angry and pushed down another student's block castle. He got back into his car and drove away. Brendol breathed out through his nose and looked to his son who still wore something of a smirk. Armitage found it humorous how his father was wrong, and his father hated that. Judging by the look Brendol gave him, nothing good was going to happen that night.

Brendol shoved the rusty key into the lock of the house. The door clicked open and he shoved Armitage in. “Who do you think you are?” He asked roughly, pushing his son again, causing him to drop his school bag and for some of the papers to fly out.

“N-no one.” He replied and began to back up, not wanting Brendol to get any closer. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so damn cocky earlier.

“Stuttering fool. You think you’re so smug…” He went up to him briskly and the next thing Armitage knew, there was a hard fist coming towards his face. He could take it from kids at school but when his father’s hand connected with his face he broke into tears. He wanted his mother back, she’d keep Brendol at bay, taking him into the backyard for a walk every time he’d want to hit Armitage. But when his mother died, when he was 6, Brendol got depressed and drank, and there was no one there to stop him from abusing his son. Armitage snapped out of his thought when a knee hit his stomach.

“Dammit” He hissed and grabbed his bag. He attempted to go up the stairs but Brendol grabbed his shirt and shoved him against the wall.

“If you think you can act the way you did in the car, well you’re gravely mistaken”

“I hardly did a-anything wrong.” Armitage whispered.

“Playing the innocent card aren’t you?” He asked, and raised his arm up again, going to hit his son, but he got free and ran up the stairs, swinging the door to his room open and slamming it closed behind him. He heard Brendol swearing at him, but not following him up the stairs. He leaned against the door, sliding down to sit against it. He brought his knees up to his chest, and cried. Everything hurt, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the complete emptiness he felt. He felt as though no one was there for him, and really no one was. All of his family members were back in England, his father was the only one from America. _Armitage was so far from home._

He didn’t feel safe enough to leave his door for a couple hours. The sun had set and the room was dark before he even thought of moving away from it. Slowly he got up, being as silent as he could, Armitage turned the lights on and picked his bag up, going to his desk to do the homework he had. There were still papers missing, down on the main floor. He debated going to get them but decided not to. He took his phone out and found a bunch of texts from Kylo.

 

4:00pm

Kylo: [Hey]

Kylo: [What’s up?]

4:36pm

Kylo: [I guess you’re busy]

Kylo: [Sorry for potentially bothering you]

6:12pm

Kylo: [Look what I drew,]

**_Kylo Ren sent an attachment_ **

Kylo: [How much homework do you have? It’s only the first day]

**_Missed Call: Kylo Ren_ **

 

Armitage shook his head, what had he done? He should’ve known giving some random kid his phone number would end up to be troublesome. He decided to respond, not wanting to worry the clearly already worried man.

 

6:45pm

Armitage: [Hey. Sorry. I was busy.]

 

He waited for a response that was almost immediate.

 

Kylo: [Are you still busy?]

Armitage: [Yes.]

Kylo: [Oh, sorry yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow]

Armitage: [Yeah. See you.]

 

He put his phone down and picked up the mechanical pencil. The door opened slowly and he jumped, the lead on the pencil snapping, he didn’t look at his father who was now peeking his head in the room. Armitage clicked the end of the pencil fast to get lead back and wrote on the paper, head down.

“Dinner’s ready.” His dad said quietly, creeping back out of the room, and heading back down the stairs. The thought of food made him feel sick. Armitage shook his head and went down stairs, slowly, carefully, scared of his father and what he may do. He rounded the corner and found a plate sitting on the table, still steaming, his father nowhere to be seen.

He inched over and looked at it, the sweet aroma of potatoes and meat hitting his nose. Just as he was going to pick it up, the familiar smell of cigarette smoke filled his nose and his father was standing right behind him. He stood frozen, not daring to look behind him as more smoke engulfed him. He breathed in and let the smell calm him slightly. Armitage didn’t know if his father knew, but he’d steal cigarettes. He knew smoking was bad, but it soothed and often calmed him. His father stayed there a couple more minutes and then walked out of the room without a word. Armitage let out a breath that he didn’t realize he had held. He took the food and scurried up the stairs. He turned back to collect the papers that had fallen, they were homework.

He opened the door with a creak. Armitage sat the food aside and placed the papers down, taking the rest of the work out. If he hadn’t sat at his door for multiple hours, he would’ve been done the work already. He picked his pencil up and got ready for a long night, the food that he had taken, was getting cold.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Armitage woke up, sitting at the desk, face in his hands. Pencil on the ground, lead broken. Food, cold and untouched. _ He brought his head up and brushed the stray hairs out of his face, groaning softly. His face throbbed dully and his neck hurt from the position he was in for hours. He went to the bathroom and looked himself over in the mirror. This was only the second day of school and he was a mess. The most noticeable thing was the black eye and the bruise on his nose. He sighed and bent down to the bottom cupboard, his father never went down there so he saw it fitting that he put the makeup down there. Years ago he found a better solution than sunglasses to hide bruises or a black eye. Makeup. So he shamefully pulled out the tube of concealer, named  _ fair.  _ He took the brush out and squeezed some out onto it. He was running low, time to buy some more. 

Armitage brought the brush to his face and began to stroke the cool paste, it matched his pale complexion perfectly. His face was dull, lifeless as he finished, spreading the extra out so it wouldn’t look cakey. He walked out and down the stairs and into the kitchen, popping two pieces of bread in the toaster. Brendol was out on the porch, and only came in when he heard Armitage hiss when he held the hot toast for too long, bringing it to the table with the butter and a knife. Brendol grumbled a little and sat down at the table, looking to his son.

“Find your way to school today.” He said, grabbing a cup of coffee he picked up from the granite tabletop near the door to the back porch. Armitage looked oddly to Brendol.

“What? I don’t even know the bus routes” he frowned and got his stuff together, grabbing loose change for the bus. Brendol said nothing the whole time. He gave one last sour look to his father, before shutting the front door rather hard. He rubbed his hands together and breathed out, watching his breath dissipate around him as he headed for the main road. He stood at the bus stop and huffed, shivering slightly this was a particularly cold day. Armitage wouldn't be surprised if it snowed. 

There was a brief period of sweet relief as he stepped onto the warmth of the bus, sliding the $2.75 that it costed. He sat down on a seat far in the back before the bus started going again. He placed his bag on the outer seat to insure that no one would sit beside him.

He got to the first class five minutes late, on account of the bus getting stuck behind a train for ten minutes. The teacher met him at the door and shook his head unapproving, taking the ginger out into the hall so that the class couldn’t see them through the window of the door. 

“Armitage, what held you up? You’ve had perfect attendance until now.” 

“I had to take the bus, it got held up by a train. I’m sorry sir.” he mumbled, refusing to meet the teacher’s eyes. He saw a nod out of the corner of his eye. 

“Don’t make it a habit.” The teacher said rather sternly, Armitage didn’t know why he was being so harsh… well this is an advanced course and he suspected that the teacher wanted nothing but perfection. He sighed and nodded as well, going back in with his head down slightly. Kylo nudged him when he got to his seat, sliding down into it and dropping his bag to the ground.

“What happened?” He asked, leaning backwards a little to stretch.

“My dad wouldn’t drive me so I had to take the bus, since I can’t drive” Armitage grumbled, taking out what he needed for the boring class. 

 

When lunch rolled around, Armitage slumped into the table that Kylo and him apparently now shared, as there was vulgar words towards Kylo on the table. Thankfully it was in pencil and he quickly erased it before the other man came. He took his lunch, which was a banana, nothing else, and peeled it open taking a bite as Kylo sat down. 

“Hey Armie.” he smiled a little, taking out the million things he had for lunch this time. The sight of all the junk food he brought made Armitage wish he had something more to eat. 

“What did you call me?” He asked, shifting his body slightly so that he was facing Kylo.

“A nickname that I made up for you. Do you like it?” He asked, batting his eyelashes like a sixteen year old girl trying to get her father to buy concert tickets to see Coldplay by being cute, but she’s no longer four years old so it’s not very cute.

“It’s fine” He said and went to throw the banana out, it was too ripe for his standards. When he came back Kylo extended the bag of chips he had to Armitage. He politely accepted and took a few chips out of the bag, putting one in his mouth he tasted BBQ flavour, not his favourite, but a close second. Kylo studied his face for a minute 

“Long night huh?” Kylo asked, a little perplexed on why there was a dark circle under only one of Armitage’s eyes. One looked almost too perfect, matte and bright on contrary to the opposite, which betrayed a hard night of work.

“Yeah it was.” He nodded, averting his gaze away from Kylo for a minute, “How about you?” He scratched at his nose a little and Kylo saw something rub off onto his finger, revealing the hint of purple. 

“I didn’t have much, just from English and Physics.” Kylo said, then decided to inform Armitage of his observation. “I-is your face okay?” There’s a small breath taken in by Armitage at this.

“Yes I’m fine.” He lied, shrugging softly, putting on a mask of indifference. 

“You’re wearing makeup. . . why?” 

“I, ah… I’m not. Why would you say that?” He began to get nervous. No one could know about this, ever. It was _ personal _ .  Confidental .  **Off limits** to anyone other than himself.

“You scratched your nose and a little came off, you’ve got a bruise on your nose. Also one eye is perfect and the other looks tired, which means something happened to your one eye. Come on Armitage you can tell me what’s going on.” He reassured and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. Armitage frowned at him, Kylo was incredibly observant. 

“Well I- fine. I have makeup on. I um…” He debates telling the truth, there’s too many people who could potentially hear. The bell rang for next class and Armitage looked to Kylo, who wasn’t packing up, but still looking at him. “Come with me.” He couldn't believe he was skipping class. Kylo nodded and got his stuff together, following the ginger towards the front doors.

“Hm, never saw you as one to skip.” He laughed. 

“I’m  _ not _ one to skip, but to tell the story. We need privacy. Do you know of a place?” Armitage asked, Kylo nodded as they went down the front stairs. 

“Out back, by the bleachers. There’s a tree I’m fond of sitting under.” Now it was Kylo who lead Armitage. They plopped their bags down and then themselves, he sighed. 

“Do you mind if I-” He asked and took a package of cigarettes out, motioning that he was going to smoke.

“You know what that shit does to you right?” Kylo asked, looking concerned. He attempted to swipe the pack of cigarettes away but Armitage was fast to pull his hand back. 

“Yeah I do know. And if you mind, I won’t.” He was going to put them away in his inside coat pocket when Kylo shook his head. 

“It’s fine. You can smoke. I’m just concerned.” He frowned, fidgeting with his hands, not knowing why he even bothered to care. It was a foreign feeling he hadn’t experienced often. He didn’t even know this man all too well. 

“You’re not my mother, you know that right? You don’t need to be concerned.” Armitage smiled, taking a lighter out and touching it to the end of the cigarette. When it was lit, he put the lighter away and took the cigarette out of his mouth with a cloud of smoke, dissipating beside Kylo. 

“So, tell me your story.” Kylo prodded, placing his hands in his lap and turning full attention to the man beside him. Armitage took a deep breath, and looked to the cigarette, he put it on the ground and snuffed it out with his foot, this made Kylo smile faintly.

“I had an  _ okay _ childhood, my mother wasn’t married to my father but they lived together because of me. Brendol, my father, never loved me. He’d try and hit me, he’d chase me. Tell me I was worthless, ‘useless and thin as a slip of paper’” Armitage used air quotes for that.

“My mother would take Brendol outside whenever he’d get mad, and talk to him, they’d go for a walk for a half an hour and they’d be back like nothing happened. When my mother died of a heart attack, I was six. She died in the hospital, the doctors said they did everything they could. Bullshit. They didn’t care enough. Anyways, after that there was no one to stop Brendol from hitting me, and he drank. A lot. We had to move out of our big house and down here to America because he had the drinking obsession. Also because he’d ‘grew up here’. But I think that was just a cover that we were practically broke. The binge drinking actually died down after a few years now but the abuse didn’t. Whenever I’d do just the smallest thing wrong, he’d freak out.” Kylo looked down to Armitage’s hands when he paused, he was shaking slightly. 

“And that leads us to last night really, we were driving home and he was driving too fast. I had told him that and he scoffed me away, but when we were pulled over I couldn’t keep a small, smug smile off my face. I’m an idiot for letting that happen.” He shook his head and straightened his slouched posture. Kylo admires that impeccable posture that Armitage seems to have perfected. 

“When we got home he punched me multiple times and shoved me against the wall…” he puts a hand on his shoulder and winces slightly. Kylo was stunned to say the least.

“Armitage I’m so sorry. That sucks ass.” He said. “I’m sorry I made you tell the story again.” Kylo felt the guilt build in him, seething the pain that Armitage clearly was in.

“It’s fine, telling the story is a way to cope... I’d thank you for this. But you can’t tell anyone, please.” He felt pathetic basically pleading this man not to tell. Kylo brought his large hand up to his chest.

“I promise I won’t tell. It’s safe with me.”

“Why are you being so nice to me? We only just met-”  _ -and I trust you _ . Armitage didn’t finish the sentence, keeping it in his unheard thoughts.

“Because. I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t admire you, and I just like hanging out with you.” He smiled sheepishly and the other man was incredulous.

“Well I enjoy your company as well.” He smiled. 

“Are you free after school? We could work on the project at my house.” He asked quietly.

“Sure, let me tell my dad.” He pulled his phone out, telling his father he’d be at a friends house for a while. 

 

Brendol didn’t respond and Armitage didn’t care. They’d ended up skipping last period as well. They shrugged it off, although Armitage didn’t like skipping but today was worth it. Kylo called his dad to pick them up. 

“He’s a real nerf herder, but I think you’ll like him” Kylo said as they approached the car. 

“Nerf herder? What does that me-” Armitage asked laughing, when Kylo hushed him. As they got in. Kylo let Armitage slide into the back seat first, then felt it right to slide beside him. 

“Who’s this?” Han Solo asked, looking at the ginger who smiled a little. Han thought that this man must’ve been something special, Ben… or  _ Kylo _ was what he liked to be called, had never really had many friends. Much less one he’d consider bringing home. 

“Armitage Hux,” he said and held his hand out for Kylo’s dad to shake. He normally hated shaking hands, but felt it polite and fitting to in a situation such as so.

“I’m Han Solo.” He nodded, and looked to Kylo. “How’d you manage to snag this kid? He looks ver-.” 

“Dad!” Kylo snapped and Han nodded, then pressed on the gas pedal, heading north. Armitage noticed how he was a good driver, well at least far better than his dad. He was surprised at how Kylo’s dad didn’t get angry at all when his son cut him off.  

Kylo lived in a nice area, nicer than Armitage had thought he would. He had the thought that Kylo lived in a grungy neighbourhood, but it was a surprisingly well kept community. Han pulled into the driveway and got out fast to get to the front door. Armitage and Kylo followed soon. They were greeted by his mom, and then it hit him, Kylo’s mom was the mayor of the city. No wonder the house was so nice. Hux wondered why the mayor, Leia Organa, married this unimportant Han Solo guy who’s, as Kylo put it, a Nerf herder. Leia invited them in. She smiled nicely to him.

“Hello I’m-”

“The mayor! Leia it is a pleasure to meet you.” He exclaimed, taking her hand to shake, then realized it was a little rude. “Pardon my obnoxiousness, I was excited.” she merely laughed a little.

“It’s alright. Good to know that I’m somewhat relevant to the people. What’s your name?”

“Armitage… Hux” He said, finally looking around to see the area they were in. The walls were lined with dark wood, and the floor matching There were some plants here and there, making it feel warm and welcoming. There was art and family portraits. One of them caught Armitage’s eye and he looked to it. It was Kylo in the seventh grade. Brown, short hair, a proper smile. He looked happy. Armitage tore his eyes from the picture and looked to Kylo now, dyed black hair over his eyes, small frown, conserved posture, shoulders hunched in slightly as if he hated being in the presence of his parents. 

“Wonderful to meet you!” Leia said and took Han’s hand, taking him away muttering ‘Let the boys have their personal space’ Kylo smiled a little at this. 

“Follow me” He said and lead Armitage towards his room. He’d envisioned it to be all punk goth, and just as he expected it was. Band posters lined the walls. Black, black, and more black was everywhere.  Kylo lead him in and sat on the bed, patting it for Armitage to sit as well. He obeyed and set his bag down on the floor.

“So the project…” he mumbled.

“We’re really going to work on that? I had some other ideas…” Kylo smirked, getting up and walking over to a cupboard and bringing out a large bottle of vodka and some movies. “It’s gonna be an interesting night...” he smirked slightly and wondered how well Armitage could hold his alcohol. 


	3. Chapter 3

_One... two... ten? Way too many shots later Armitage was upside down in Kylo's arms._  He was laughing his ass off as Kylo dropped him onto the bed gently. They were both giggling like bumbling idiots. The young ginger hadn't had this much fun in a long time. It hadn't taken too much to get Armitage drunk, Kylo saw earlier. After the second shot he was already a little tipsy. Armitage was completely adorable when he was drunk, all smiley and dumb. He said the dumbest things.

_"How does the car population in the movie Cars work? How do those cars have sex?"_

Kylo had laughed  **so** hard, finally getting tipsy himself. Luckily his parents hadn't come up to see what they were doing. Kylo was sure they'd left after the first half hour. Armitage placed a hand on Kylo's chest and smiled up to his face.

"Call me... call me Hux. Not that stupid name my dad gave me. You know what Armitage means? It means solitary. I don't want to be alone. I've always wanted someone who cares about me... I don't like my name." He slurred a little, blinking slowly as he explained. Kylo's eyebrows pulled together a little at this and a smile played on his lips.

"Okay Hux.." he tested it on his lips. "Short and concise I like it." He decided. Hux giggled and nodded.

"It's settled then!" He exclaimed and stepped off the bed. He almost tripped but Kylo had caught his waist, pulling him back. "Where are you going?" He laughed.

"I was going to get a drink." He said.

"No, I think you've had-."

"A drink of water silly" he giggled and walked to the bathroom. He pulled a paper cup out of the cupboard and filled it with cold water. He went back to the room.

"You know we have bottled water down stairs," he said, seeing Hux with the tap water. The ginger merely shrugged and continued to drink.

"I don't mind" he said, his hand was a little wet and he rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, flinching a little. Some of the makeup rubbed off too, revealing the hues of purple underneath. "What time is it?" He asked, yawning.

"Too late on a school night" he said, shaking his head a little guiltily. He got some tap water too and then they both brushed their teeth, Hux using a spare, untouched toothbrush. Kylo took a soft wash cloth and got it wet with warm water. He swiped it at Hux's eye and nose gently, the not set makeup came off. Hux sighed a little, just wanting to be in bed. Wait.. was he gonna stay with Kylo? In Kylo's bed? Was there an angry string of texts from his dad demanding he come home? Or did Brendol not care enough?

"Oh stars..." the deep voice of Kylo broke him out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"Jesus you're beat." He said, ghosting his fingers before Hux's eye.

"Yeah, I know" he said quiet.

"You say it like its a common occurrence almost. Is it?" Kylo asked with concern in his voice. Hux shrugged.

"Not exactly regular..." he lied a bit "not usually but when he does it's bad" he mumbled. Kylo nodded and took the ginger into his arms. He hugged him and Hux felt warmth, security. No, he can't feel this in a stranger. Even if just hours earlier he spilled his whole backstory to this stranger. What if Kylo betrayed him? He'd have to get Kylo to reveal something about himself. When the hug broke Hux looked the dark haired man in his eyes.

"How'd you get your name? Kylo Ren?" Kylo visibly tensed a little. "You can trust me.." he assured. Kylo could trust him. He had earned it with that hug.

"I- well this is gonna sound stupid" he said as he dragged a hand along his face.

"No it won't"

"Okay fine. I had a group of friends. We found out what DND was and we began to play. We had a campaign and we together were the Knights of Ren and I was Kylo Ren. And I liked it better than my name. Ben Solo." He admitted.

"Do you still play with them?" Hux asked. Kylo shook his head.

"No we stopped last year when there was a fight between two members and we just broke up." He said, sadly. He enjoyed playing with them. Hux nodded in listening.

"Ah, I like that story... it's different" he grinned. Kylo smiled as well. Kylo's attention quickly came back to Hux's eye.

"How could he do this?" He asked, shaking his head. Hux turned away and frowned.

"Because he doesn't care, and you don't have to either!" Tears jumped to Hux's eyes fast, so he could be a sad drunk too... Kylo panicked a little not wanting to see the other boy like this.

"No- I do have to care. If I don't then who will?" He asked, grabbing Hux's arm gently and bringing him into a kiss. His lips were so soft Kylo wouldn't even mind if he was pushed away, at least he got to taste Hux's alcohol tainted lips.

He hadn't expected it at all. Really, Hux should have, seeing how they were acting but he didn't. Kylo's full lips were plush against his. He'd never felt something better. In the moments their lips were connected together, he felt like he could fly. All the stress and tension of Hux's life were lifted and he felt free. If he could feel this all the time, well he'd be the happiest damn person ever. The kiss ended too fast and Hux just stared into Kylo's chocolate eyes, which almost seemed animated, like they were swirling with emotion and passion.

Kylo's mouth was still open a little as he looked at Hux. The perfect man, did he literally have no flaws? Kylo took his hand and lead him back to the bed silently. They lay down, still fully clothed. Hux faced kylo and kept looking him in the eyes. He was speechless. So many words wanted to come out but didn't come out. They lay in tranquil silence until they drifted off, or Hux did, because kylo shifted and spooned him, placing gentle kisses at the boy's neck.

This was paradise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, this is such a short chapter, sorry guys. Next one should be longer!

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comment what you think!


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